Annie, Dearest
by SuzanneSuperFan
Summary: Basically, the story of Annie Cresta, which wasn't ventured into enough in the books. I started this a while ago, and it was the first thing I started on  still in progress , so bear with me.


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games and there are some grammar mistakes, so bear with me. Read and Review.**

Annie's POV

"Hey Finnick," I said casually, pushing a strand of wind-tousled brown hair behind my ear. Finnick was my best friend. It wasn't because he was a victor or because he was good-looking, but he was a great guy. He was nice, funny, and smart. That is, when the crazy Capitolites weren't around. I know he has to put on a show, but his second personality is quite the suave jerk.

"Hey Annie!" he said excitedly with his natural boyishness. I smile and laugh to myself as he tripped on the pier. He was such a goof sometimes.

He got up and laughed it off. Everybody on the pier was looking at him. He dusted himself off and walked over to me. "So, the reapings are tomorrow. They're such a pain, even though I'm not eligible to reaped," he said. My stomach knotted. Nobody likes the reapings, especially those who areclose to victors.

I'd been friends with Finnick for years, even before he won the Hunger Games 5 years ago. Although he was two years older than me and I hadn't had anywhere near the achievements that he had, he just accepted me the way I was. He understood me more than my family did. The only thing that links me to my family is my last name, Cresta. My unofficial home is in Victors Village, where I live with Finnick O'dair and his aunt. They actually appreciate me and don't see me as a waste of space.

"I hate the reapings. What if I'm reaped this year?" I asked, a hint of urgency creeping into my voice. The Gamemakers hate most of the victors for surviving their deadly arena. To get revenge, they send loved ones into their deathtraps.

Children. Spouses. Boyfriends. Girlfriends. Nephews. Nieces. Cousins. Brothers. Sisters. In-laws.

Best friends.

I had been dreading that reaping ball since Finnick came out of the arena. Just as waves wash on the shore of District 4, a rush of fear washed through me. I can't be reaped this year.

"Finnick, I'm… I'm scared," I confessed. Even though it was the truth, it took me by surprise. I never revealed any vulnerability, except maybe to Finnick once in a while. Tears pricked my eyelids, threatening to overflow. You could ask anybody in this part of the District how many times they've seen me cry and you'd get the same answer: twice, once when Finnick was reaped and once when he came back. I was an emotional wreck then, just as I am now. Of course, I'd cried behind closed doors during his Games, but Finnick and I were the only people who knew about that.

"Annie, it's okay. They can't send you in there and they won't. If they're half as smart as you are, they'll keep you as far away from them as possible," he said. That didn't stop the tears from running down my cheeks. I just did what I always did when I was fearful.

I ran.

I ran down the pier, through the streets, past houses of families who love each other, in front of the small shops in the square, behind the Justice Building, and into a hole in the hedge. There, I wept. Barely aware of Finnick beside me offering words of consolation, the tears flowed freely down my face. I was reduced to dry sobs, my body shaking from the fear that I'd be in that arena, blood emitting from my tanned throat, a silver knife sliding eloquently through my jugular as life wisps it way from the only thing I can just barely call my own.

"Look, Annie, even if they do pull your name out of that glass bowl, there's a lot of careers ready to volunteer in your place. How could they kill you? You're too delicate to die," he said. I looked up at him, my sea green eyes glazed over with tears. I smiled and managed a weak, shaky laugh. When we first met, he said I was too delicate to race down pier 5, the longest dock on the shore. After I won and we became friends, it's been a running joke that I'm always too delicate.

However, I can still outrun and outswim most of these people without breaking a sweat.

I stared at the back wall of the Justice Building. It was dark and dank, reflecting my mood. I turned to Finnick. "Sorry," I said. The reapings were a touchy subject with me.

"It's okay. I'm glad to know you're human," he joked. I looked up from my knees and smiled at him. Finnick was such a clown. Stepping out from under the greenery, I took a shaky breath and shook my hair behind my shoulders. Finnick was right beside me.

Time seemed to escape people when they were crying. It'd been hours since Finnick was face-first on the pier. We walked side-by-side to Victors Village, pushing open the door to the house that Finnick, his aunt Leona and I share.

"Finally, you two are home!" she exclaimed. Her face went from worry to shock when she saw my red-rimmed eyes. "What were you crying about, Annie?" she asked. She was like a non-biological mother to me.

"Nothing," I lied. Leona could tell I was lying, but she let it go. I immediately went upstairs to the back of the house, where there was a balcony overlooking the sea. I opened the glass doors and sat on one of the patio chairs, bringing my feet up and wrapping my hands around my knees.

This was my world. The sea, the sky, the sun reaching for the horizon. I wish I could just freeze this moment, but there was something missing, something I couldn't put my finger on.

"Hey Annie," said Finnick. I ripped my eyes away from the gorgeous sunset and looked at him, managing a small smile. He was sitting on the other patio chair with a grin on his lips. The only indications of stress were the dark circles under his eyes. We just watched the night ascend until he said, "Come on, there's fried trout inside."

I stood up and followed him as he pulled open the glass doors. The smell of fried trout wove its way through the house. Fish is all anybody smells here. We are the fishing District after all. But there's something about fried trout that's just so distinctively appetizing.

While Finnick chows down, I pick at my food. If I eat too much, it'll come up, and that is not a pretty sight. I have my limits. I've never been one to eat under stress. At one point, I just give it to an extremely hungry Finnick. He chows down without further ado.

I opened the door and aimlessly wandered through the streets. I didn't notice that Finnick was following me until we sat on the edge of the sea and his hand was on mine, our feet brushing against each other. Lately something was different about him. He just seemed a little quieter and I often caught him staring at me. Once, when we were on the balcony, he was looking at me with something I couldn't identify and smiling. I was wondering if it was something more than friendship, but I shot that down.

"Finnick," I said, my voice thick with tears, "Finnick, I'm scared. I… I can't be reaped, I won't come home." He turned towards me. I looked him in the eye for the first time today. His jaw was firm, yet his eyes held an unseen softness and vulnerability. I've only seen this from him when the Capitol killed his parents and little brother. It was almost scary how much he trusted me with these sacred emotions.

"Annie, you'll live through it. I did and I have the willpower of a squirrel. You can live through everything Annie, everything," he whispered, his hands on my shoulders. I was shaking from all the crying I had done in the past few hours. His faith in me made me confident enough to sit up straight and push my shoulders back.

"I know I will. Anyways, I might not get reaped at all," I said. However, we both know, deep inside, that the escort is going to pull out a slip of paper that may or may not have my name on it and utter the name Annie Cresta in her annoying Capitol accent. I can hear it now.

I shoved that thought out of my head. This wasn't the time to cower from the Capitol. It was time to…

"Hey, Annie!" he screamed as I pushed him into the sea. He disappeared underwater and I felt a tug at my ankles. I shrieked as he pulled me into the water. I tackled him from behind and he threw me off. I swam downwards. He had come up for air. He looked around, confused, not expecting where he'd next see me.

I came straight up. I grasped his ankles and pulled a backflip. He was obviously caught off guard, but easily was back on his game. Coming up from my backflip, I let go of his ankles and came up for air. Finnick laced his leg in mine and swam downwards. I let him pull me down before freeing my leg from his and following his lead. The water was so clear that I could see him, even this deep. Bubbles emitted from his perfectly shaped lips.

He was laughing. I laughed with him. His eyes, the same color as mine, were smiling. I swam up for air, but he caught hold of my wrist. I looked down at him. He pulled me back and had a firm grip on my arms. Our legs were treading water to keep us from floating to the surface. He was look at me with something I didn't recognize.

Time seemed to freeze. His eyes, while still holding that… that something, were pleading. I was wracking my brain to understand what he meant. He was coming closer to me. His stunning features were inches from mine, his golden-blonde hair swirling above him like a halo he didn't deserve. His skin, tanned to a perfect bronze, was against mine. His shirt was long gone and I soon realized mine was too. It must've floated off from the backflip. I was left in my swimsuit top and a pair of khaki shorts, leaving my toned stomach, arms, legs, and shoulders bare.

His lips were against mine. It wasn't like what he did with other girls for the camera, when he shoved his tongue down their throat. It was soft and kind of nice. I didn't realize that I was kissing him back or that we were floating upwards. His arms were around me, mine against his chiseled chest. I'd never been kissed, much less underwater.

What was I doing? What was I thinking? Why was I being kissed by my best friend? Why was I being kissed in the first place? What happened to an innocent swim? I was freaking out. Just a few minutes ago I was crying my eyes out about the reapings. How'd I get here?

I felt warm, salty air hit my back. I pulled back and looked at Finnick. A wave of terror and confusion hit me. An unexpected anger simmered like water in a full pot, ready to boil over.

"Why kiss me when you don't mean it! I thought I was more than one of your little Capitol pawns! I'm not at your disposal!" I exclaim, my voice ringing through the night air. While still in the District, we were out of earshot of everybody else.

"Annie…" he said weakly.

"I thought I was more than that! I was your friend! I thought… I thought…" I said, my voice fading at the look in his eyes. It wasn't his suave, womanizer face. It was like the little kid I knew, racing down pier 5. He was once again the 15-year-old, recovering when his parents and brother died.

"Annie, it isn't like that. You're not like those girls. You're more than that. Annie, don't you get it?" he said. It all clicked in that moment.

"I love you," we both said. I could tell that he meant it. I could tell that he's never said it before. We didn't notice that we had drifted closer to shore. Some of Finnick's admirers had listened in on our moonlit confessions.

I heard a few shrieks, some of fury and some of excitement at a 'fairytale' unfolding in front of them. I turned my head and saw one of them, Aqua, glaring at me. I held the angry gaze and followed Finnick out of the water and into Victor's Village.

The few people who were out at night were staring at us. Some were whispering. Finnick O'dair was in love, a rare event that nobody thought would happen. Of course, this had to be kept a secret from the Capitol. They'd lose all interest in him.

We walked into the Victors Village, his arm around my shoulders. I was vaguely aware that this might increase my chances of being reaped, but I could care less.

When we got to the door, I shrugged out of his grasp. He raised his eyebrows, but then realized: even though we were coming into this house as lovebirds, we had left as best friends. Unless rumors traveled unusually fast, Leona didn't know about it yet.

When I walked into our seaside abode, I knew it didn't matter. Leona was standing there, her hands on her hips. She just shook her head and walked upstairs. I remembered that my shirt had drifted off, probably shocked by the electric fence that surrounded the district.

We walked up the stairs, dripping wet and hand in hand. Once in my room, I sat down on the bed, my back to the door. I stared at the long window that stretched across the wall, knowing that he was behind me. Finnick sat on the bed next to me and put his hand on my back.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I turned my head and looked at him. It didn't make sense, yet it did. I came closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. I rested my head on his bare chest, looking out the window again. He mindlessly ran his fingers through my hair. I don't know how long we were there, him stroking my hair and me resting on his abs, both of us looking out the window overlooking the sea.

"I wish you could be only mine," I said without realizing it, "I know it's not your choice thought."

"Annie, I am yours. All of me. All my heart, all my soul, I'm yours," he said, not breaking his rhythm. I looked up at him, smiling. He seemed to just get me.

"Finnick, is there anything I can do to guarantee that I don't get reaped?" I asked.

The look in his eyes said it all. Hope was all but dead. I was going into the arena, but I couldn't give up before it started. Even if I did win, things would never be the same.

"I'll come home," I said softly. His face was grave. He knew how hard it was to survive the Games of life and death. Everybody lost eventually, as even though victors are physically alive, they're dead inside. Finnick puts on a show better than anybody, but sometimes even he slipped off. You could see it in his emerald eyes when he did; they just seemed lost and confused about the cruelty of this evil threat to life and limb we call Panem.

"Annie, you'll do fine, great even. You'll come home and we'll live happily ever after. It's okay. You can swim better than anybody in the District, probably anybody in Panem," he said reassuringly.

He was now lying down. I fell down next to him, looking out at the window. I held his hand like he could protect me from anything and everything in that arena.

"You're a fatal attraction," I muttered, just before I drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless, sleep.

Finnick's POV

It was the morning of the reapings. They were at 10, but I couldn't sleep without my mind drifting off into the killing fields that the Capitol uses for entertainment.

Now that it was all out on the table with Annie, a huge burden had lifted off my chest. When she turned over in the middle of the night, I felt her heart beating next to mine. I wrapped my arms around her as her head bent into the crook of my neck. I bent my head into her hair, inhaling the sweet and salty aroma.

Annie was starting to stir, arousing from her slumber. I loosened my grip on her. She wouldn't want to feel like my prisoner. She raised her head from my shoulder and smiled at me. She stretched her neck and kissed me. I smiled back.

"So, reapings today," I said glumly, lifting myself off the mattress. She followed suit. After kissing her once more, I walked into my own bedroom.

I buttoned up a white and blue plaid shirt. I pulled on some khaki pants and walked back out. I then remembered that I had to wear cologne, which I think smells horrific, in the presence of Capitolites. Grimacing, I took the small green bottle from the wooden dresser and spritz myself with the strong-stenched liquid.

Annie was already downstairs, looking lovely in a blue cotton and white lace dress. Aunt Leona was smiling secretively. If she didn't know about it last night, she knew now. Rumors spread like fire in a coalmine.

I tried to smile, but these were tough times. Smiling would be a near impossible feat. Of course, when I saw Annie's fresh face, it became so much easier.

"What's up, everybody?" I said calmly. Aunt Leona bit her lip and left the kitchen, smothering a laugh. I turn to Annie, her dark brown hair pin straight. She placed her hands on my biceps and stared at me, as if looking for a sense of calm. I wrapped my arms around her in a reassuring hug. Whispering words of motivation into her ear, I felt tears in her eyes.

She lifted her head and smoothed her dress, gaining her composure. We walked to the reapings side-by-side, but once we were in sight of the cameras, we went our separate ways. She stood near the front of the crowd, being seventeen years old. When the escort, Ransialla, saw me, she glided over too me on her freakishly small bright yellow feet and opened her thick azure lips.

"Finnick, it's glorious to have you here! I'm sure you still remember…" she said. A deaf person could have known she was attempting seduction, but her newly done mouth made it sound like she was choking on an oyster.

Those last five words brought up bad memories. I knew exactly what she meant. I'm sure she didn't know it, but what lead to that was the reason my parents and little Noah were dead. It wasn't her fault though. It was the fault of the Capitol, President Snow, and the Hunger Games.

The President has a keen eye for desirable victors, but he also has a keen eye for weaknesses. He auctions off attractive winners, which unfortunately includes me, and the highest bidder sleeps with them for 2 hours. They're encouraged to give money and gifts to their 'prize', but I do it for something so much more important, something that I store and use to my advantage later.

Secrets.

However, when Snow first offered, I refused. That didn't sit well with Mr. President. He ordered Peacekeepers to break my family's spines in the middle of the night. Of course, nobody knew that. They just said that a mass murderer was running through Victor's Village. However, they had to kill other victor's families to make it seem real. They also found the supposed murderer and killed him too. When he threatened to kill Annie and Aunt Leona, the offer was accepted.

I sat in the wooden mentors' chair on the stage. Oceana Viva was to my right, and our latest victor, Ferry Fink, was to my left. He had only won last year, so this was his first year as mentor. He had won from hiding in a nook in a tree that had a water drip. He didn't even kill. At Victor parties, we joke that the Gamemakers forgot about him.

I caught Annie's eye and smiled. All the girls around her sighed. One even fainted. The only one who had a cold indifference was Aqua.

The mayor, Jameson Ricky, introduced Ransialla. Her floor-length indigo hair was trailing behind her. I'm sure that the sun, which was bearing down on us with all it's worth, was less bright than her buttery skin. I never did get the Capitol and their weird fads.

"117 years ago, Panem rose from the ashes. For the past 12 years, we, as a country, had battled earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, famines, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, twisters, cyclones, floods, droughts, radiation poisoning, lack of o-zone, glaciers, heat waves, dust storms, as well as multiple man-made disasters. Those who lived in the Rocky Mountains were the sense of calm in all the fury," she said proudly. Bile came up in every mouth of the square.

"The wisdom of those in the Rockies was spread through the land. When the nonsensical war, both of the Earth and the people, had ended, the people unanimously voted the Rockies the Capitol. We governed the country with honesty, fairness, and respect. It was a happy system, with 13 districts showing their graciousness towards their beloved Capitol. While they found it fit to shower us with gifts, we only requested the resources the Earth gives us. We repaid them with food and shelter," she said. I caught the eye of a sour, homeless, starving orphan. That child alone was proof of their bogusness.

"However, they were unsatisfied by our hospitality. The Capitol was soon the victim in a war run by hooligans. Districts 13, the graphite miners, were the leaders of that war. We watched you self-destruct. Eventually, the Capitol prevailed and destroyed the last district. We later conjured the Treaty of Treason, agreeing that, in punishment for their actions, the Districts would send a boy and a girl from their own region into the Hunger Games, a fight to the death on Live TV," she said enthusiastically.

Fury sizzled to life inside of me. Of course, my face was a mask of suave calmness, but my temper and patience was waning with every one of Ransialla's choked giggles.

"So, the female tribute for the 70th Hunger Games, representing District 4 is… Annie Cresta!" she said joyously. I knew it was coming, but I couldn't ignore the anger leeching its way through my veins. All I could do was sit back, smile for the cameras, and shut my mind off from the world.

"Any volunteers?" asked Ransialla in a chipper tone. I kept my eye out for that shred of hope, but I knew that nobody would volunteer for Annie. She was going to be torn to pieces out there.

I didn't notice who the male tribute was. All I saw was Annie, standing there with her head held high, her face blank. I knew the first person Annie would see in the Justice Building.

"Hey, no mentors allowed," said a Peacekeeper. I stormed right past her, knowing that she'd be Avoxed for attacking a victor. She let me be.

I had a fifty-fifty chance of choosing the right door. The odds, like always, weren't in my favor. I pushed open a door that led to a red plush room that I was in just 5 years ago. I didn't get a word in before a stranger did the noblest thing I'd ever seen in my 19 years.

"I'll keep her alive. She deserves it. She's just found the first thing she can hold onto, it would be just cruel to make her let go too fast. I won't stoop to their level," he said. I was shocked. Who was this kid anyways?

"I'm Annie's older brother, Kevin," he said, reading my mind. I'd be forever grateful to him.

I thanked him and turned to leave. I chose the other door, leading to a green and blue room. I wasn't focused on anything but Annie. Her sea green eyes were soft yet distant. She was biting her thin pale lips. Once she saw me, she jumped off the blue shag sofa. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. I felt like making up for a lifetime of lost kisses.

We didn't talk. Her legs wrapped around my waist. I focused on nothing more than her soft lips and her toned arms and just her all together. I didn't notice that her obnoxious twin, Ava, had come in and was screaming at her to stop making out and stay focused.

If by some chance she didn't come back, this was making up for it. She was making up for the past few years where I had feelings she didn't know. Eventually Ava's screaming stopped. When it did, I reached into my back pocket and eased my lips off of hers. She stared at me, dipping her head shyly.

I pulled out a small crystal dolphin on a white ribbon. She was speechless as I tied it around her neck. She fingered the delicate treasure. It used to be my token, but you know what they say. If you love it, let it go. If it doesn't come back, it wasn't yours in the first place.

"Hey, get out," the grouchy Peacekeeper said. I obliged. Meeting up with a group of victors and some luggage, we walked to the train. The tributes were going to meet us there in half an hour. I was pleased to see that I looked like a person the Capitol thinks they've molded me into.

Stepping onto the train, I opened a green door with 465 written on it in fancy gold letters. There was a white mattress on the floor with 3 blue pillows, two sets of clothes, a desk, and a door to a fancy bathroom. They don't use real beds in these rooms, as one person cracked their head during a Victor's nightmare. We have a choice of that, puffy beds that seem to strangle you, or don't sleep at all.

As I stepped into the shower with lots of buttons and knobs, I pressed a red one, for heat, and a green and blue one. The familiar scent filled my nose.

It was the smell of Annie's hair. It was the smell of Annie's skin. It was an emphasized smell of District 4.

It was the smell of the sea.

I took my shower, pulled on some jeans, and messed up my hair in the mirror. I liked it neat as much as I liked cologne. I smiled and brushed my teeth. Walking back out, I pulled on a plain white t-shirt. Looking at a digital clock on the desk, a half hour had passed.

I strolled down the hall to the room where most of those who entered where dead, F4. The shell pink door was agape. Annie was sitting on a bed, a real bed, still fingering the necklace. She had changed into some khaki shorts and a blue T-Shirt, barefoot, but her dress was lying in a heap on the floor. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Finnick, I've already cried enough. I can't cry anymore," she said solemnly. It was strange how these last few hours had changed her so much. Just yesterday she was the carefree girl, fishing on the pier. These Games change people long before and long after the arena.

I sat down next to her and wrapped my arms around her. She rested her head on my shoulder. In her ear I whispered, "Annie, you're okay. You're fine. I love you," over and over again. I felt her form a smile. She got up, shook her hair out, and walked to the dining trailer. I was hot on her heels.

"Okay, all 18 of us are here," said Oceana. She was at the head of the table, Annie and Kevin on one of her sides. Ransialla was sitting at the other end. The rest of us sat around the table. "What's the strategy and who's mentoring who?" she said.

"I'll mentor Kevin," Mags said. She was 75 and half blind. However, she had seen every single one of the Games and had mentored most of us, myself included. She had mentored all of us in mentoring.

"Let's group mentor, five of us," I suggested. After all, there were 15 of us and 10 of them were addicts to morphling and alcohol. We all had to do something during these few weeks.

"Good idea. We all need to do something to make these people win, and with Finnick and Annie…" said Oceana slyly. Kevin and the victors laughed, Ransialla raised her eyebrows, while Annie and I turned a deep shade of crimson. It was almost comical.

"So, I'm good with group mentoring," said Kevin. Annie nodded in agreement. We then turned on the TV and watched a reapings recap. There was a girl from 1, Yves Saint, who, despite her miniscule frame, looked ready to kill anybody who crossed her path. The boy from her District volunteered for his brother, Omega. His name was Alpha. District 1 is just plain weird. In 4, I was glad to see that they looked strong and confident, not showing an emotion.

There weren't any standouts until District 10. The girl, Rhi, probably worked with horses, judging from her stature and boots. The boy, Javi, might've worked with cattle or bulls. He was pretty muscular. They seemed like good allies for Annie and Kevin once I saw that they didn't break each other's hands. However, we'd have to pick them up before the Careers did.

"Kevin, are you a Career?" I asked. He shook his head. "Good," I said calmly, "The Tens seem like good allies. Not kill-you-in-your-sleep type people, but built. They're like you guys."

"I don't want to be associated in any way, shape, or form with the Ones," Annie said firmly. Everybody agreed to that.

"Whenever we send you something, it's not because we want to be nice. It has a meaning. Just keep that in mind," Oceana said calmly, "Oh, and by the way, don't go to the Cornucopia. You'll have sponsors galore, trust me."

Annie bobbed her head in a blunt nod. I'm sure this wasn't the girl that I saw 24 hours ago. This wasn't even the girl I'd seen this morning. Her glowing eyes, usually so full of life, were solemn. Even with her even natural tan, a shade of pallor was evident under a pale green hue. I put my arms around her thin yet muscled shoulders, much to the dismay of Ransialla. She was going to get on my nerves.

"Well, how are you two going to get to the end?" Ransialla said smugly. I hated her more by the second.

"We both have our strengths and I will keep her alive," said Kevin. Dead silence.

"It's true, you guys both have strengths. Annie, you can probably swim better than anybody in Panem. Kevin, I know how you can use people virtues to make them feel better. If you can do the opposite, you can distract them from their attack. I know that both of you can use a harpoon and throw a spear. You guys can also run and have muscles, regardless of their structure," Ferry said, breaking the tension. As he barely ever talked, this was a surprise.

"Well, on that note, you can't go into the Games on an empty stomach. Let's dig in!" said Ransialla. Even with her ease and casualness, you could feel the edge in her voice.

When will she learn?

Annie's POV

Even though I expected it, it still came as a shock that I was reaped. Now I was sitting in the dining car of the train, slowly eating salad. Even though this was the District 4 train and I knew that nobody would think of sabotage, I was suspicious. Then I remembered, if a tribute dies before the Games, there are severe consequences to the killer. I ate a little more.

Once I finished, I silently turned and walked to the train car I was in an hour ago. Pushing open the pink door, I slammed my head onto one of the many pillows and screamed until blood rose in my mouth. What mattered anymore? I was going to die. Finnick would be alone. Even if I did live, it'd never be the same. We could never be normal. No matter what, the cloud that was the Hunger Games would always be hanging over our heads, twice as dark as it would normally be for other Victors in love. I wouldn't only lose my true love, but I'd lose my best friend.

Each of these things pierced my heart like a dagger. I could never love Finnick. I died a little bit inside when I strung his name and the Hunger Games into a single thought. I felt a hand on my shoulder, but it was unfamiliar. Finnick's hand was hard with muscles, his smooth skin stretched tight over them. This unknown person had bony fingers with skin thin as lace. I stopped screaming and lifted my head.

It was Mags.

"Same," she said simply, fingering the blanket. It didn't look like one of the modern ones; it was pink and light green fleece with the crest of Panem on it. This blanket had been here for 70 years. Most of the tributes in this room had died. This is the room where everybody mourned and pitied.

"Mags, how was it during the Dark Days?" I asked. She looked up. Anybody could see the pain in her face a mile away, but I held the gaze.

"Fire. Explosions. No home. No family," she said calmly. I was shocked at this. My family never was around or appreciated me, but at least they weren't killed by the Capitol. They were probably only mourning one of their children. I looked back down at the blanket in shame.

She stood up and left. It was just me. Standing up, I went to the mirror. I needed something for the stylists to work with. My skin wasn't as tan as the other girls in District 4, so under the lights it would either wash out or shine like the moon. My eyes could pierce through you like a knife. If brown hair was dark enough, it could look black, like mine would. However, my nose and mouth were small in comparison to my eyes.

I brushed out my hair and then walked into one of the cars that said in large red letters: NO TRIBUTES ALLOWED. I went in anyways. What could they do, kill me?

My knuckles were inches from a green door that said 465 in gold when I heard two voices from inside. "Finnick, you have to do it tomorrow night. Do you want her gone?" I heard. It was Oceana. The other was obviously Finnick.

"But, I haven't told her yet," he exclaimed. What hasn't he told me? What does Oceana know about Finnick that I don't? I wanted nothing more than to ask, but I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place.

"She'll understand. She's not dumb. You can't hide it from her anymore. Don't you love her?" said Oceana. I heard something snap.

"Get out," Finnick said bluntly. There was a dead silence in the room. Nobody had ever spoken to Oceana like that. Eventually the door opened.

"How much did you hear?" Oceana asked. I just stared at her and Finnick.

"Annie, it's not what you think!" he shouted. I didn't hear him. I just ran through the train and into F4. A few paces from the door, Finnick grabbed me from behind. I thrashed around, but he was stronger than me. He dragged me into the room, sitting me on the bed, his arms not losing their grip. Going limp, I realized it wasn't a war worth fighting.

"Annie, you need to listen, listen to all of it. If you don't hear it all, then you won't understand. Just listen," he said soothingly. When I didn't respond, he continued. "President Snow could see that people liked me. He does it with all desirable Victors. He did it with Oceana too. They make those bratty Capitolites bid on us like we're for sale. The highest bidder, well, for 2 hours we have to sleep with them. It's gross and inhumane," he spit, choosing his words carefully. Leaning my head against his shoulder, he loosened his grip. He took a deep breath.

"At first, I refused. I didn't want to be bought or owned. Then…" he said. I knew what he meant, but I would hurt too much for him too say out loud. It would make it real.

President Snow killed them.

"Your family kicked you out, but at least you have them. You know that Kevin promised to keep you alive? He wasn't just saying that for the others. He promised it to me in the Justice Building," Finnick said smoothly. I smiled calmly.

"He never could lie," I said, smiling. My little sister Ella and younger brother Dean seemed to inherit that. Come to think of it, neither could I. It would be a family trait if Ava didn't have the ability.

At that point, the enormity of the situation hit me. I was going to die for being in love. The only thing that mattered to me was going to be broken hearted. One of the only people I cared about was going to be that thread between life and death. Once that glass tube went up, it could be the last time I'd see my one and only love.

"I love you," I said, my voice barely audible. He could hear it though. He whispered it back to me as I closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I was shut off from the world, fast asleep in Finnick's strong, supportive arms.

My dream started with Finnick in his arena. He'd just fallen into the crevice in the prairie, landing in the cobalt water. He went a few feet down, but, being from District 4, he swam up fast. I remember how my breath had caught at that very moment. A few seconds later, the silver parachute fell.

However, what should have been the trident was me. I was asleep, my dark brown hair floating around me. I landed, sending ripples through the water. His hand reached out to mine, but it wasn't my normal hand. It was starting to pale and wrinkle, spotted with age. My eyes were bagged, lined with red. My hair, while still maintaining that thickness I'd always hated, was turning grey and falling out at points.

Finnick was still young. His face was shining in sweat and joy. He wrapped his arms around me protectively, as if he was trying to keep me from leaving him.

It didn't work. I was fading into dust. He was left holding stale air. Throwing his head back, he screamed bloody murder. I'm not sure how long that lasted, but every second it did was more painful than the last.

The screaming stopped. He swam down and down and down until the water became murky. The water then turned into sky. He fell onto the now-mended prairie where he 'won.' Trey Vince's dead body was lying in his net, a trident piercing his throat. Finnick was lying in my ashes.

"And the Victor of the 65th Hunger Games is Finnick O'dair!" the voice said as Finnick held onto what was left of me. They were wet with tears, clumping together. He pulled the trident out of Trey's throat, his arm muscles flexing. He pulled it down towards his own.

"Annie, Annie wake up!" screamed Finnick. My head shot up, back in the real world. His chest and arms were drenched in my sweat. I was screaming like a banshee, but I quieted immediately at the look in his eyes, full of fear and concern. I laid my head on the wall and screamed. He released me from his loose restraint. Judging by the light, it was well past midnight. We'd make it to the Capitol by noon. Finnick was fairly groggy, so good thing he got some sleep.

"Annie, are you okay?" he asked. I didn't say anything until my breathing slowed. Sweating buckets, I turned to Finnick nervously and explained the dream.

"Oh Annie, it could be worse," he said, laughing. As bewildered as I was, my whole trust lay with him. "Annie, I'd die for you. Even when we grow old, I'd die just to be with you. Your dream proves that you feel it too."

"I guess that's a way to look at it," I said, calming down a little bit. I was still shaken, but just being in the same room as Finnick made me calmer. He pulled a few strands of hair off my damp forehead. I leaned in to kiss him as he wrapped his arms around me. He kissed me back, sending tingles through my body. The feeling, while pleasant, didn't totally take away my fear.

Then again, this was the Hunger Games. They were designed to fill you with fear for your life. I could never be fully doused, but kissing Finnick came pretty close to it.

We just lay there that until the sun came. The thin pink curtains were opened for the Capitol, so we decided to go eat breakfast. The dining trailer had no windows and, of course, there was food.

Finnick went back to his room to change. I peeled off the khaki shorts for a pair of denim ones. Swapping the blue T-shirt for a dark red tank top, I tied that gorgeous necklace around my collarbone. It showed off my long limbs for any paparazzo who snapped me in between the train and the Remake center. Better start playing the game now. Finnick may not like that, but he sleeps with random things every other night. If he objects, hypocrisy with be at its finest.

"You look nice," said Finnick when we met up in the dining trailer. Ransialla's glare was menacing, but the others were fairly positive. We sat down and started eating.

The concept of white eggs was strange to me, since you save every piece of food you can in the districts. Yolks could give much needed energy, but as only the Avoxes did something here, it just turned into fat. These people plucked at my nerves every time they did something ignorant.

I shot dagger glares at Ransialla. She shot them right back. Barely anything could break the tension.

"Kevin, do you want to say anything?" asked Avery, another victor. Kevin smiled creepily.

"Well, as long as my little sister's a virgin, I've got nothing to say," he said.

We all burst out laughing. If that doesn't break tension, nothing does.

Kevin and I were then escorted from the train to the Remake center. It was so much colder than District 4. I eyed the cameras, a glint in my eye. The snapped wildly, ignoring all the other girls. I flipped my hair. They pretty much salivated. Ransialla would be jealous.

I met my prep team. Fuji had long dark red hair with pale skin. With slanted dark green eyes and voluptuous dark red lips, she was kind of pretty and almost normal. That is, her face was. Her body was obviously altered, with a waist smaller than mine. She stood at 5 foot 10, 8 inches shorter than Finnick.

Riddle was a short little guy. I was taller than him. His coal black skin and orange hair made him look like personified Halloween. With sharp pointy features and orange eyes, he was a little creepy.

Tigris was an older lady. She looked like, well, a tiger. With orange and black stripy skin and whiskers, her face was scary. However, her thin agile limbs mimicked mine. She was also my stylist, and I highly respected multi-tasking.

They used waterproof make up. Some rich girls in the district used it. I shied away from it, even though I was pretty high on the scale. They used some light silvery stuff on my defined cheekbones. After putting a near-invisible layer of that silver stuff all over my face, they applied some dark blue shadow on my eyelids. My lips were just glossed enough to show under the heavy Capitol lights.

Now it was onto the hair. They dyed it a shade darker and made it pin straight. They gave it a little bit of body and movement, but they made sure I could still flip it over my shoulders.

My mouth dropped open when I saw a gorgeous dress that Tigris brought out. The tight bodice disguised the flatness of my chest, yet emphasized my tiny waist. It was cobalt blue like the ocean on the other side of the District 4. I'd only been there once, but it was almost as beautiful as the sea. Almost.

The skirt was mostly the same color, with white fabric whipping through the striking blue. I slipped it on over a pair of matching shorts, but there was one question that was bothering me.

"It's gorgeous, but what does this have to do with District 4?" I questioned.

"Everything, of course. It may not look like it, but…" she opened a door and gestured for me to follow. Walking down a narrow hallway lit by nothing but a light bulb, she led me to the chariot shed a little early. While most of the chariots were bare, District 4's had 2 tanks of water on it. The front of the actual chariot was glass carved with mermaids and sea nymphs. Kevin and his stylist, Logo, were also there. He wore a tight pair of dark blue and white pants.

"Wait, we're…" I said, my mouth curving into a smile. Kevin's imitated mine. The waterproof make-up made sense now.

"That's right, you're swimming. It shows you as stylish, beautiful people who also have athletic ability. Pretty cool, huh?" said Logo. Kevin and I nodded enthusiastically. The four white horses, a little more built than the others, were painted with green and blue spirals. Shells lined the edges of the tank.

"Oh, by the way Annie, I'll hold onto your necklace," Tigris said. I reluctantly let her take it off, obviously not happy.

The other tributes came. We loaded into the tanks. Man, the water was cold! I didn't show it on my face though. We couldn't. The doors opened and the chariots rolled out.

Swimming gracefully though the tank, my teeth chattered. It was times like that when you wish you had more body fat or muscle. I had neither, so the heat or lack thereof consumed me. My arms got the worst of it, but my legs were a close second. I just swam around the tank, occasionally coming up for air. White, red, blue, and green roses cluttered the surface. I blew kisses and people caught them. My muscles were screaming in complaint, but I just kept blowing kisses. I spun around a few times, seeing my face on the screen more than anybody else. I looked like an angelic sea nymph floating through her home.

I was getting dizzy from not only spinning, but lack of air. The cold didn't help. I could stay down pretty long, but even now I was pushing my limits. My head pounded, ready to explode. Little black dots spotted my vision. I tried to come up, even though I'd be colder, but my muscles wouldn't comply.

I blacked out as I floated to the bottom of the tank.

Finnick's POV

I was sitting on District 4's mentor's balcony in a black sweatshirt and blue jeans. This place was way colder than back home, even with a lot of muscle to spare. I was more built than my first time here though.

"And now, the start of the Hunger Games ceremony, the Chariot rides!" boomed Claudius Templesmith. I winced at the sound of his voice. District 1 burst out. Alpha was wearing a pair of pants that looked like they were made of diamonds. His partner, Yves Saint, wore a strapless minidress covered with the same stone. I rolled my eyes at their generic cliché. It was past boring.

The Twos, Mysis and James, were barely dressed and painted grey. They stood like statues. The Threes, Janine and Max, wore these boxy grey outfits with smoke capsules. A little more interesting, but not by much.

Annie and Kevin came out. You could hear everybody in Panem inhale. They were swimming around in tanks of water, swathed in blue and white fabric. Kevin was only wearing a pair of pants, revealing a pretty good set of abs. Annie's blue and white skirt spun around her as she dipped and swirled, roses scattering the surface of the water.

"You're girl's got a green rose," said Oceana, smirking. It wasn't like Capitol girls to be envious, so it shocked everyone when they were. Green roses dotted the white, blue and reds. The last made me twinge.

Annie was staying down awfully long, even for her. Her silvery skin shone, but her agile body was tight. I bit my tongue until it bled, but kept on watching. I knew that I was making a mistake, but I couldn't show any signs of distress.

Like an angel, she floated to the bottom of the tank. Oceana and Avery gripped my wrists, but I kept myself in check. There was no way I would throw the odds any more against her than they already were. The anthem stopped as medics and horse trainers came to help. Like a feather, somebody lifted her out of the tank. That was the last I saw of her before somebody escorted us into a black sedan.

They all cowered into the front of the car as I stuffed myself in the back corner. I punched the window, obviously not happy. It didn't crack, but the rest of the victors stayed silent.

Punching the window with all my might, I realized, that pane of tinted bullet-proof glass was the Capitol. No matter how much you fought, they always came out on top. There was no breaking it, no defeating it. Without realizing it, it manipulates something it wouldn't know in a million lifetimes.

Love.

We stopped at the Service Center. Everything Behind the Scenes was in there. Ferry gazed in awe. This was his first year as victor, so he'd only seen this grand building on TV. We all piled into the elevator and onto the 4th floor. There was a spectacular rectangular room with 2 glass walls, an expanse of doors, and a TV that took up a whole wall. We turned it on to see a recap of the Chariots.

One, Two, and Three were as boring as they were live. Four was outstanding. Five was a huge equation, which was pretty cool. 6 was all green and bubbly, 7 was the classic tree, 8 was dressed in some ridiculous Capitol wear, 9 was dressed as a plain spear, 10 was covered in meat with a butchers ax, 11 was wrapped it woven grass with moss capes, and 12 were in black jumpsuits with gold cracks. It was an improvement to last year, I guess.

The 12's had just left the chariot shed when Annie blacked out. Haymitch Abernathy will be far from sober tonight.

"Well, we know the arena's going to be warm," said Ferry optimistically, casually messing up his bleach blonde hair behind his ear. Every eye in the room bore into him. He pointed to the TV. It showed some news report that ranked the tributes.

Annie was at the top of the list, Kevin making a close second. "The Capitol loves them too much. If the Gamemakers kill of the Capitols favorite tributes, they won't be too happy. It's like what they did with you guys," she said, gesturing to Oceana and me. That kind of logic almost made sense. If he was wrong, there would be a major throttling scene in the control room when the Games started.

"Well, let's hope," was all I said.

"Finnick, Oceana, please come to the 14th floor," said a voice from the intercom. I slammed my head against the back of the chair. The 14th Floor was where the highest bidders got their prize. It was the worst 2 hours of my life, every other night I was in the Capitol. I just shut myself out from the world, counting down until the last 5 minutes to when I get my secrets.

"It's okay, just bear with it," said Oceana calmly as we climbed into the elevator. As much as she hated it, she was a little less open about it. Most of them just wanted to make out with her though.

"You guys know the procedure," said the assistant, Devreela. Her dark green hair was pinned back in a sloppy bun and she was holding a clipboard. She could be annoying, but she had good intentions.

I walked into a small room that only had a freakishly puffy bed. The low lights and smoke gave off the illusion of a romantic atmosphere. The reddish-purple rose petals that littered the floors gave off a strong vanilla and alcohol aroma that made me keel over. Of course, that only brought my nose closer to the disgusting odor.

"Hey, Finny-whinny," said a familiar voice. It was Ransialla. I rolled my eyes and brought myself upright. Leaning against the bedframe and taking in her appearance, I swallowed bile. I always seemed to be doing that around her.

"Look, Finnick, she's going to die. Let her go," she said. Her eyes were like a wildcat looking at a tasty piece of prey. Her long fingers caressed my face. I'd normally just zone out, but I backed out of her grip, sending long scrapes from her nails down my face. I glared at her menacingly.

"I'm not giving up Annie. She's not going to die. I'm not going to let go of her because a big-headed, silicone freak tells me to!" I spit. The smell of the roses was bad enough; now I need to deal with her hot breath that reeked of alcohol on top of her natural synthetic stench. It made me want to gag.

"You don't know. There's a world to explore. Jungle cats need to prowl," she said, attempting seduction. Her purring and my gagging were in sync. Fury boiled up inside of me as she pushed me onto the bed. Zoning out, I thought of Annie. That was the only thing that kept me from exploding at this crazy thing. Ransialla whispered things that I couldn't hear in between kisses. After her two hours were up, she hissed in my ear "I refuse to be treated like this. Do better next time."

I pulled my clothes back on. I stormed out the door and waited for the elevator. Oceana was right there next to me.

"We need to go to the Training Center now," said Mags, authority ringing through her voice. We climbed back into the black sedan and drove 3 blocks. I was gratified to see my Annie again.

"Finnick!" Annie said cheerily when I knocked on the door of 4F. She threw her arms around my neck. Her touch soothed my anger in an instant. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her.

She was still shaking and light-headed when I saw her. Her hair was still wet, plastered to her back. The temporary dye had faded off.

"Eh-em," said Kevin. He was behind us and didn't look happy. He walked to the dining room, me and Annie had in hand in front of him. When we got there, we took the places we had on the train. The 10 addicts weren't here. Annie and I held hands under the table. Ransialla looked flustered and disheveled, yet like she was basking in a small victory. I glared harshly at her. This took the glory out of her eyes.

A vase was in the center of the table. Every mentor from District 4 hated the smell of Snow's purple-red roses, but it hit me hard. However, I couldn't show Annie.

"Well, we've concurred that the arena will be warm," said Ferry. He shook his hair in front of his eyes. Avery, Oceana, Mags, and I nodded. We briefly explained the popularity thing and how it worked for Oceana and I. Mags never talked about her Games, and Avery won the 51st, which was fairly boring compared to the one preceding hers. Everybody in Avery's died of cold, so she won by melting snow in a metal pocket, holding a sword over it to get water, along with hunting foxes. She killed a few people though, which is a few more than Ferry.

"So, if there's heat, there's probably going to be a body of water. They won't want their tributes to die of thirst," said Annie. Pleased by her intelligence, I kissed her on the cheek. Kevin grimaced while Annie was itching for my lips to meet hers.

"That's reasonable. What if it's an artic wasteland?" asked Avery.

"They've never done that since your Games," I said, as if it were the most obvious thing since fish.

"Well, you guys better rest up for training tomorrow. Let's get back," said Oceana. Mags nodded calmly. She was the most level-headed of all of us, the sense of peace in all this madness.

"I think we better," I said under my breath. Giving Annie a few very welcome kisses, I stepped back into the elevator, into the sedan, up another elevator, and into my temporary room. All the time, my mind was still back at that kiss we had just a half hour ago. My mind was, just as it had been for the last 5 years. All my thoughts circulated around the 2 worst subjects: Annie and the Hunger Games.

"What're your dreams about?" I asked Ferry, standing in the doorway of his door. He looked up. He was only 16, but he'd gone through almost as much as I had.

"They tell me I'm oblivious, that I'm too ignorant to do anything, that I don't care," he said with a distant look in his eye. He went from a quiet casual teen to suffering wise man in a few seconds. It hit me hard. I looked like a normal kid next to him. I knew that he cared, probably more than any of us, maybe more than Mags.

"You do care," I said steadily.

"I know, of course I care! How could I not?" he said. An uncharacteristic smile flashed across his face. "Almost as much as you care about Annie," he said. That gave me an idea.

"Dude, thanks!" I said enthusiastically. I ran to the next room over and pulled my hoodie back on. I pulled on a pair of black sneakers. If I put my hood up, I'd fade in with the shadows, not noticed by anyone.

Flipping my hood up, I walked out of the room and into the elevator. I jammed for the ground floor. Impatiently, I waited for the doors to close then open. When it did, I broke into a sprint. Staying close to the wall, I got by for about two blocks. I was one block away…

"It's Finnick O'dair!" somebody screamed I leaned my head back and groaned. Time to turn on the charm.

"Sorry, I'm not O'dair. I've got a great surgeon though," I said, lying through my teeth. They all clambered me for the name. I thought back to one of the news reports I'd seen.

"Flootengale Garish," I said suavely. Arching my eyebrow haughtily, I gave my smirk. The crowd gaped at the thought I could afford his surgery. Looks aside, these people were deeply in debt.

"Flootengale! You must be rich!" screeched a Capitol girl who looked about 13, but could very well be 113. She flipped her light pink hair behind her shoulder.

"Well, I am," I said calmly.

They gaped at me. I flipped back up my hood. Everybody started walking again, as if that was all just nothing.

I exhaled. That was a close one. Pulling my hood lower, a cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

"Hey, Chris," I whispered, looking at the guard in front of the Training Center. His head snapped up, looking for an imposing threat. I pulled my hood back enough so that he could see that it was me and not an imposter. He's an Avox who I was on very good terms with. With a blunt nod of his head, he hastily opened the sleek door. I reached into my pocket and swiped my security ID.

The glossy bright red lobby was empty, the shiny lip-shaped couches untouched. The matching wallpaper looked like they were just installed. The only sign of life was my footsteps. Swiping my ID again, the elevator opened. Jamming on 4, I leaned against the back mirror. I turned around, seeing my own face staring back at me. It was the face of a murderer, a cheat, a pawn, and scum.

The doors opened as I briskly walked out. The only thing that separated Annie and I was the metal door of 4F, a door I could easily push open.

"Annie, are you awake?" I whispered. I was answered by a soft whimper and a shiver. Sitting on her bed, I lay my hand on her arm. An ear-splitting scream emitted from her lips. "Annie, Annie, Annie, are you okay? It's just a dream, it's just a dream," I said. She moaned my name.

I thought back to my Games. Stress had overcome me. I couldn't sleep. All I had wanted was to feel the fresh air on my face again. The closest I could get to that in the Training Center was…

I picked her up. She was light as a feather. I could feel her breath on my shoulder and her hair sprawled across my chest. She still kept moaning my name. The doors opened up. As I pressed the top floor harshly, the moaning became louder. When the doors closed, it rose to a scream. I murmured some words of support into her ears. When they opened again, a whole new world did too.

There were exotic flowers and plants everywhere. Vines draped over lush hedges. The sky opened up above us, but we could only see a few stars. A few benches were placed here and there, but I opted for a hedge, just like back home. I'd found this 5 years ago. Vines draped over a nook in the foliage, letting in minute tendrils of moonlight.

We sat in our niche. She had quieted down. We just lay there all night. Nobody came to stop us or take me back to the Service Center. It was just me and one of the only girls I've ever had eyes for. It was just me and Annie, me and Annie, me and Annie…

For the first time in a long time, I had a dreamless sleep.

Annie's POV

This didn't feel like the scary bed I fell asleep in. There was something tickling my legs and feet. There was some heat on my chest. There was the sound of breath that wasn't mine. It was just like my nightmare.

Then I actually opened my eyes. I screamed. Leaves surrounded Finnick and I. Vines fell down a small entrance as orange light wisped its way into our little safe haven. Finnick looked like he had just woken up. His arms wrapped around me. I kissed him then pushed out of our little sanctuary. It looked like we were on the roof. He was behind me, like always.

I walked in silence to the elevator. We made it to the 4th floor without disturbance. As Finnick went to the dining room with the other mentors, I snuck into my room.

The sheets were disheveled. The mattress was soaked with my own sweat. I opened a cupboard to see a few tank tops, some shorts, and simple undergarments. I got dressed in a plain white tanktop, my usual khaki shorts, and white tennis shoes. Training started today.

I walked out with Kevin. He was wearing some cargo pants, a black T-shirt, and black tennis shoes. We came into the dining room. It was the same as last night.

"How're you feeling?" asked Avery. I knew that she was asking about last night's thing with the chariots.

"You know when you swim really deep, pushing you limits, and you come up really fast? That's how it feels, except it's just longer," I said. They all nodded. Your ears popped and your head was all clear. Your lungs hurt a little bit, but once you got some air into them it all cleared up.

"Good, it doesn't sound like anything too serious. Usually, your senses are more alert after these things," said Avery. I nodded, smiling at the thought of swimming. We went on to talk about training strategies.

"We're not going to train to swim. We already know how to do that. I think we should concentrate on plants and snares and fire. We can fight pretty well," said Kevin. Everybody nodded.

"Make an alliance with the Tens. They seem like pretty good people. They seem kind of like you," said Oceana. Mags nodded wisely. If Mags agreed, the decision was final.

"Well, I think it's time for you kids to get down to Training," said Ferry. We all nodded as Kevin and I got up and went into the elevator. Seeing Finnick's encouraging smile perked up my whole day.

We were the third district down there. The Tens were just entering with us and the Ones were already there. The Twos, Mysis and James, were right behind us.

"Fours, Twos, over here, now," said Alpha. Kevin and I glanced at each other, made a silent decision to stick to our mentors' truce, and walked over there. Our faces were set in stone.

"Mysis can chase our victims into a tight corner. Fours shoot an arrow or throw a spear while in the water so you can cause a distraction for our victims without them seeing you. We'll do the slow torture stuff. James, you can do the final kill," said Yves. Her talking about killing somebody so casually scared me.

"Why do you assume we want to be in an alliance with you?" I asked. My voice was disgusted yet smug at the same time. Yves didn't look at me for a few seconds. She slowly turned to me. Her icy blue eyes held your soul in a death grip. Her pale blonde hair was pulled over her shoulder. It was so long and straight that it looked like a bleached dagger. I held the gaze. It was more efficient to stab something than too throttle it.

"You've guaranteed your early death. You shall die sooner than anybody else. I shall dig a hole in the ground, track you down, stab you with just enough sleeping syrup so that you will wake up in the hole that I will drag you through the dirt into, and you will wake up seeing me and only me. Then, the pain will start. I will trace my knife lightly across your lips, then open it and cut out all of your teeth one by one. I will then slowly slash your gums open. I will slowly cut out your gag reflex and each of your tonsils. I will slice your tongue into miniscule pieces. I will then trace the outside of your lips until they are no more. I'll take the warm crimson blood out of your mouth and smear it all over your face. I will slice my knife across the edge of your jaw. I will proceed upwards until I reach your nose. I will shave that off layer by layer until all that's left is a stump of cartilage with two holes to breathe out of. I shall the go back to slicing your skin. I will bypass your eyes so you can see your own death. Skipping down to your arms, I will slice them off by the shoulder and you will see the blood drip onto what's left of your face. I will rip your fingers off with my bare hands. I shall do the same with you calves, and then your thighs. I will then proceed to your precious hair. I'll slice it off strand by strand, taking your scalp with it. My knife will slide delicately across every muscle on your stomach. Then your sternum will be whittled out of your body. I will turn you around and cut out every vertebra. My blade will go in between each of your individual ribs. Flipping you back over, I shall chop out each bit of your ears at a time, then take a pointy stick and hollow your ears out. Then, for my grand finale, you will see me. I will prop your head up for the soul purpose of that. My mouth will meet the skin above your heart. I will snap every rib that gets in the way. My sharp teeth will pierce through your skin and the tissues of your heart. As I feast on the organs I will later cut out of your body, you will be dead. It'll take about 10 hours," Yves said with enthusiasm. The heart that she wanted so desperately to consume stopped for a few seconds.

"You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk, little cannibal girl?" I said, switching to snarky. I knew that it wasn't a smart thing to say, but it set her off. All 80 pounds of her frame jumped on me. I could hear catcalls, wolf whistling, and cries of "Chick fight!" She threw a punch into my eye, making it swell to the size of a tomato. I got on top of her, gaining the upper hand. I punched back. My fist made contact with her nose as I heard a sharp, loud crack. A battle cry emitted from her overused mouth. She then did the thing I expected the least.

She bit me.

Her teeth weren't as sharp as she claimed. In truth, they were pretty blunt. They clamped down on my collarbone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an indoor pool. If only I could get there…

I rolled across the mats on the floor. Halfway there, Yves didn't notice what I was doing. She was still concentrating on taking the skin off of my neckline. I rolled a little quicker. I was at the edge of the pool. Yves let out a yelp into my shoulder. She knew where we were now.

Water splashed 6 feet into the air. She pulled back. The blood that streamed from her nose and my shoulder made the liquid a dark red. I came up, but she didn't know how to swim. A hand gripped onto my ankle, so I pulled a backflip. She came up and gripped the side of the bloody pool. She went over to the ladder and pulled herself up. I climbed out and saw 22 faces, 23 if you include Atala, the head trainer, gaping at us.

I went over to the first aid kit in the corner. Getting a sturdy white bandage, I stuck it over my bite mark. I turned around to see little Yves running at me.

I stepped to the side, my foot pushed out. She tripped and landed face first in some ointment that smelled like garlic, rockfish, and the waste pools at the far end of District 4. I'd feel sorry for her if she hadn't threatened to chew out my heart.

"What're you looking at?" I asked the other tributes and Atala. They all dispersed to their station of choice. Atala shook her violet hair behind her shoulders, rolled her eyes, and went into a back room. I jogged over to Kevin.

"I'll take Rhi, you take Javi," I said. He nodded enthusiastically, heading to the archery station where Javi was messing with a Blackwood bow.

"Hey Rhi," I said, walking over to the plant identifying station where she was. She turned around and smiled at me.

"Nice work you did out there," said Rhi. I thanked her sheepishly. Her dark brown eyes inspected me with curiosity. I rubbed a leaf between my thumb and forefinger. They were really plastic, but they had the characteristics of the real thing. It looked like the plants that made the hedges in 4, but it was a little too silky. I sniffed the plant and wrinkled my nose. Its fumes were too salty, even for district 4.

"Arveria," said Rhi, "the lighter it is the more lethal. Just cracking the leaf can kill anything slowly and painfully. The deep purple juices inside of it send these seeds into your throat that swell and cause bleeding and nerve sensitivity. It takes about 16 hours and you're muscles can barely move. The only cure is the nightlock. It doesn't save you, but it kills you quicker," she said, gesturing to the fake leaf in my hand.

"Well, let's watch out for that one," I said. She got the hidden message in my words. She peered at me through her thick sheet of black hair, smiled, and mouthed, "Allies?"

I nodded in agreement. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Kevin and Javi were coming over to us. Javi's dishwater blonde hair went down to his shoulders. They jogged over to us.

"Hey," said Rhi. Her face was tense as if she was mad, but her eyes showed something different. They had that same look Finnick had before two nights ago. It was pained and pleading, but there was something deep and intense, something you won't understand until that look passes over your eyes. It was love.

"So, it looks like we're allies," I said. They all nodded. Javi looked grave.

"I'm going to check out the spears. Annie, do you want to come?" Javi asked. I nodded and turned as Kevin sat down with Rhi. I picked up a lance of sleek titanium. Eyeing a freakishly life-like dummy, I pierced it in the heart.

"Well, it's a pretty good strategy for all of us. I swear that I won't kill you or anybody else in our alliance,"

"Okay, I swear. The mentors have a no kill strategy, so I'm sticking to that," I said smoothly. He seemed to be studying the motion of my arms and trying to copy it.

"You've got to coil your shoulder and flick your wrist," I said, demonstrating the easy motions of my toned arm. He got the person in the stomach, which I guess was an improvement.

"How's your life at home?" I asked.

"It was… complicated. My mother was threatened with the death penalty for eating some of our pigs slop before I was born. She struck a deal with them that if they didn't kill her, they'd send her firstborn, me, into the arena. She never told me about it until she was in the Justice Building. She bet the life of her firstborn to a scoundrel to save her own. She didn't even train us. We were cattle herders. She even denied the opportunity to get a promotion," he said. My eyebrows went up as my spear went up into the beige wall.

"It wasn't that bad. I have three brothers and a sister. My sister's 3 and my brothers are 6, 9, and 14. I'm 18. We were a happy family. I was pretty high on the social rankings. It's strange how the first time I was in a serious relationship, I got reaped."

Just the mention of his girlfriend made me gag. He had Rhi, who loved him, and he didn't even notice her. A wall of shame had hit me. That was what I did to Finnick.

He continued talking about his girlfriend. "Her name's Georgina. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. I was going to propose to her after the reapings, but it didn't work out. If I win, I am going to propose to her. Her hairs a little lighter that yours. Her eyes, oh her eyes…" he said, going off into his little dream world. I bit back my anger and threw the spear into the dummy's jugular. Under the rubber, there were these packs of red water that burst upon contact. By now, the dummy was a deep scarlet.

"Are you okay?" he said. I gestured for him to follow me over to fire-starting station where Rhi and Kevin were.

"Yep," I said tightly. He walked behind me. I never seemed to be walking behind anyone. First there was Finnick, then Oceana, then Kevin, and now Javi. Come to think of it, the only person I'd followed since I was reaped was Tigris.

"Do you think we're going to have matches in the arena?" asked Kevin. I hadn't thought about it. They hadn't appeared since before Oceana's games, but they have been a deciding factor of life or death in these games.

"I don't think so. Our mentors watched a news report that ranked all of us," I said, gesturing around the room. "Kevin was second and I was first, so the Gamemakers won't want to upset their precious Capitol if we die soon. So, they might tailor the arena to the favorites. They've done it in the past with Finnick and Oceana and your mentor, Artemis. With that reasoning, I think it's going to be a desert scene with a big water source and possibly a few trees. All the arenas have three environments," I said wisely. Kevin nodded; Rhi cocked her head to the right, while Javi just raised his eyebrows at me.

"Well, if not, then they just heard our logic and will probably change the arena. Or, they better," said Rhi, an edge in her voice.

"I don't get it, how can you be so optimistic?" asked Javi. I was so fed up with him.

"How can you be so pessimistic?" I asked. My voice was filled with attitude.

"That's because we're all going to die!" He exclaimed.

"Well, so you're going to live the rest of your life in a pool of self-pity!" I screeched.

"At least I can face the facts!" he shouted.

"You don't know the facts! You've never known the facts! You've lived your whole life in this little bubble of District 10! I sleep right down the hall from a victor! I hear the screams! I've seen his family's dead bodies! You don't know anything! You just think that it's what you see on the TV! This is real!" I screamed.

He just stared at me, his face covered in shock.

"You're right. I don't know. I need someone, someone who knows what it is, to teach me," he said. "Just don't punch me."

Finnick's POV

"Annie!" I said. She ran out of the elevator and into my arms. I could feel the curve of her smile in my shoulder.

"Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?" she asked.

"Bad news, bad news first," I said, suddenly solemn.

"Well, I got in a fight with Yves Saint," she said calmly.

"How bad was it?" I asked. I hope it wasn't so bad that she'd have an enemy against her. Then again, Yves seemed like she'd make an enemy out of everybody.

"I told her I wasn't joining the Career pack, she said she'd chop me to bits slowly. I retorted. She attacked me. I broke her nose. She bit me. I rolled her into a pool. She nearly drowned. I pulled a backflip to save her life. We got out. I patched up the bite. She sprinted towards me. I tripped her into this strange ointment," she said. My eyes bugged wildly.

"What! 70 years and I don't think that they've ever had something like this. I didn't know that you had that fight in you!" I exclaimed. She giggled shakily.

"Well, the good news is that I made allies with the Tens," she said excitedly. I grinned in approval.

"Are they as good as they seem?" I asked.

"Well, Javi has a bit of an attitude, but he agreed to the alliance. Rhi is strong, but will do anything I want her to do. I'm kind of the unofficial leader of the group. Rhi taught me what Arveria was," she said. I nodded thoughtfully. This Rhi girl was very smart, if not a little gullible.

"So, what do you know about your enemies?" I asked. We needed to avoid the careers. People don't make threats like Sheen's without meaning it, especially with what they're going through.

"Well, Sheen has a lot of force in her bite, can't swim, is sort of slow, oblivious, and is pretty good with close-distance weapons. She's very small, so she can sneak around. She doesn't strike me as particularly deadly," Annie said. I took it all in. Sheen was either holding back or she had some serious issues.

"Well, it's simple. Stay away from her. Let's talk to the others," I said, going to the dining room. It wasn't stars but the Capitol buildings that brought light through three glass walls that partially encased the room.

"So, we need to keep these two away from the Careers, particularly Sheen. Let's come up with a sponsoring system. Bobby pins, needles, a square inch of cheap metal, and a cheap hollow chain link are equal for second cheapest sponsoring items," said Avery.

"We used this system for Veil Grey," said Mags. Veil Grey won the 55th Hunger Games. She's now a morphling addict.

"She had an enemy. The first thing we sent her was a compass while it was cheap. A bobby pin meant her enemy was a mile north. A needle meant east, an inch of metal south, and a chain link west. The cheapest one, a blade of grass, meant that we ran out of money, but she was within the mile," said Avery.

"Okay, I think I get it," Annie said. A small smile played on her lips. It took Kevin a few more minutes to catch on.

"Oh, okay. If that can keep us alive, I'm all for it," said Kevin.

"You two are more optimistic than any tributes I've ever seen," said Mags. Everybody around the table smiled.

An Avox came in. She was short, with icy blue eyes, long blonde hair worn up in a loose knot, and only opened her mouth just enough to show a small strip of her porcelain teeth. Her skin had a slight tan. She was carrying a tray.

"Oh, this is just great. I haven't had a diet pill all day and now I have to eat more food!" exclaimed Ransialla. The Mentors and I were relaxed. There couldn't be anything wrong with this girl. She was just a normal Avox. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

Annie and Kevin didn't think so.

You could see the apprehension in their eyes. To them, it wasn't just an Avox. It was something more.

"Open your mouth," said Annie. The Avox shook her head. This was odd. Avoxes had to follow direct orders, which Annie just gave her. This was peculiar.

Realization and fear hit me. This girl wasn't an Avox. Her face, teeth, and hair were all too clean. Avoxes never wore their hair up. They don't have anything to their name to put their hair up with. If they stole something, not only would somebody notice, but they'd stick out and be executed.

Annie pounced on the girl. A collective gasp went through the room. A true Avox couldn't gasp. This made everybody gasp more.

Kevin was now in the fight. He held onto her arms, pulled them together behind her back, and pressed it against the floor. The girl kicked with her remaining limbs. Annie was kneeling by her face, trying to wrench the girl's mouth open.

"!" screamed Annie. The girl had just bit her. Bite, bite, bite, bite… where had I heard that today?

"Yves, you need to stop and go back to your floor," I said. Oceana and Ferry looked at me, confused. Avery was still shocked by the fight on the floor, and Mags was smiling at me.

Annie pried Yves' mouth open. Sure enough, there was a tongue. Yves clamped down. The smell of Annie's blood, saltier than a normal person's blood since she was from District 4, filled the room. It was normal to all of us except for Yves, who now had it coating her delicate taste buds it. That was the downside of having a wide range of food to eat, like it District 1.

"So no matter how bad District 4 smells, they aren't stupid. I'll keep that in mind," said Yves.

"Get out," I said icily.

"Okay, I was just bringing you dessert," she said with sugary sweet innocence. I narrowed my eyes menacingly.

"Mags, can you please test this?" said Oceana. Mags had built up a resistance to all poisons over the years. If there was a trace of something impure, Mags would know.

I took the tray off the floor and gave her the only small sparkly purple tartlet that wasn't on the floor. Mags took a small fork, loaded a crust crumb and a small portion of the filling onto it, and bit into it.

"Well, there's definitely a high poison content. It's Ivo, which breaks down your muscles cells and leaves you weak. There's something else in there, but I don't know what it is. It's not a poison though," said Mags.

"The Games have already started," said Yves. She then creepily backed into the elevator.

"Annie…" I said. She ran out of the dining room. I looked around the room. Every set of eyes I met were filled with sorrow and fear. Avery was married. Mags had been widowed. Oceana was secretly engaged. Ferry's boyfriend died last month. The point is that they've all been in love before.

"Well, don't just sit there. Go after her!" said Avery.

I ran in the direction Annie was. I could just scarcely see her door closing. I caught it before it closed. Her head was in her hands, her knees curled up towards her chest. The sound of her tears pained me. Surprisingly, the pain of killing somebody didn't compare to it, which was saying something.

I kneeled down in front of her and put my hands of her shoulders. She leaned into my chest and cried.

"Annie, it's okay," I said. I knew it wasn't, but what else could I say, that if she wasn't going to be murdered on Live TV then she would come back home a scarred slave to the Capitol? There's just no winning.

"Why does she want to kill me?" Annie sobbed. I stroked her back. I had trouble thinking of a reply to that.

"We're all in a tough situation. The stress is getting to her. It's easier to lash out or hold it all back than to just cry. She's not vulnerable enough to do that. She refuses to try," I said.

"I'm not vulnerable," she said defiantly. I just laughed.

"I'm not vulnerable!" she exclaimed, but even she was laughing. She turned her head upwards and looked at me, smiling. I cupped her chin in my hand and kissed her. This was the first time she was smiling while kissing me. I placed a hand on her back and pushed her closer to me.

Her arms wrapped around my neck. A few strands of her hair fell into my face, tickling my forehead. I could smell her salty-sweet fragrance. Her wrists pressed against my collarbone. My other hand was now on her back. I pressed her closer to me.

I felt her legs moving. Feeling her bare toes against my ankles, I kicked my fancy buckskin shoes off. Her grin grew. One of her hands moved down to the top button of my shirt. Slowly, she unbuttoned each of them. I removed my hands, shrugged off my button-up, and tugged at the hem of her tanktop. She raised her arms and let me pull it off. She was left in a bra and her shorts.

"Um…" I heard from the door. Annie, now pretty much on top of me, pushed back, pressing her hands on my chest. She scrambled to get her shirt back on. I was still in a haze.

Oceana rolled her eyes and leaned against the doorframe. I was alert by then. Clambering to get my shirt on, I buttoned it up crooked.

"Come on, dinner isn't over," said Oceana, smothering a laugh. Annie and I kissed one more time then followed Oceana back into the dining room.

"Be sure to keep an eye on these two. Leave them for five seconds and they start taking each other's clothes off," Oceana said jokingly. Everybody laughed hysterically.

"Well, we need to go, and that includes Finnick," said Avery. Mags, Ferry, Oceana, and Avery stood up. Seeing as I was already standing up, I walked to the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. Piling in, we hit the ground floor in a few seconds.

"Wait," said Mags. She turned to me. Her nimble fingers readjusted the buttons of my shirt. Feeling blood rush to my cheeks, I gave a small grin. Mags was like a mother to me ever since my real mom died.

"They'd suspect you were doing something with someone," she said. Every eyebrow rose as we stepped into the sedan.

"Tao, please hand me the tribute papers for Janine Aphrodisiac," she said.

"Yes ma'am," said the car. I froze. This was the girl with the smoke capsules from District 3. Mags pulled out a file and shuffled through the papers.

"And, here's her picture," she said. My eyebrows would be nonexistent if I raised them anymore. Janine's skin was deeply tanned. Her hair was waist-length, slightly curly, and coffee colored. Her lips were thick, but not in the same way that Ransialla's was. Her body would be considered attractive to most everyone. She had a very curvy bust and a slight curve to her hips, but she was generally slim. She was the kind of girl I might have hit on a few years ago. She was wearing her reapings outfit, which was a very tight, revealing, black minidress with cutouts and one sleeve. It was a nice picture, but they eyes scared me.

Janine's eyes were a peculiar color. Smokiness layered on top of those reddish-purple irises. The color was fairly pretty, but it brought up the bad memory of the roses. The roses had a deeper meaning though.

"It's not just that they think you're having an affair with her. She has the red rum eyes," said Mags. This brought a shiver up everybody's spine. Red rum is the only thing that kept any of us sober.

Murder is twisted. Murder is strange.

Red rum is murder backwards.

It reminds us all that no matter what, we are murderers. The Capitol encouraged us, but we are the ones that caused the fatalities. We are the ones that struck the blades into their hearts. We are the ones that pulled the life out of their bodies, and, with it, a bit of our souls.

We die inside.

I walked into the Service Center. Taking the stairs, I went up three floors. About a floor and a half away from my welcome mattress, I doubled over. My skin grew cold and clammy. My hands started to shake. Sweat soaked my shirt. I tried to lean against the railing, but I wasn't quick enough.

I fell down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom. The floor seemed to be everywhere, yet nowhere. I didn't know up from down or left from right.

"Finnick!" someone screamed. It was Avery. I attempted to crawl up the stairs, but I faltered.

"Call Mags," I choked out, a strangled cry emitting from my throat.

"It's happening to her too," said Avery, "It was the touch."

"It was Yves," I said.

Pain that had nothing to do with my collapse shot though me. Something hurt Mags. I'd always thought of her as invincible, but, let's face it, she was eighty years old.

"I'll call Lyme," she said. Lyme was another victor from District 2.

"No. You're not getting Lyme," I said sternly.

"No need, I'm here," came a new voice. My heart stopped in my throat. This was the voice I had dreaded. This was the voice I couldn't avoid. This was the voice that always spoke the truth, no matter how painful it was. This was the voice that I wish I could never hear again.

That was a wish upon a star that never came through.

"You," I sneered at President Snow. Avery and I glared.

"I've got a lot to explain. Let's start with your fabricated affair with my daughter."

Annie's POV

"_What's your name?" he had asked._

_"My name is a name," I said, not willing to give in. The corner of his lips turned downwards, his forehead creasing. He didn't like being beaten by a 5-year-old girl. He wasn't giving up._

_"I'm a boy. I'm bigger. I'm stronger. I'm older. I'm taller. I can beat you in a race. If I can do that, I can learn your name," he said._

_"You can't beat me in a race. Not now, not ever, will you beat me in a race," I said stubbornly._

_"I'd like to see that," he said, no longer caring about my name. He just wanted to beat me in a race and prove this little 5-year-old wrong._

_"If you win, I'll tell you my name," I said strongly. We were sitting on the edge of pier 5. His whole foot was submerged, but my feet were still dangling above the water._

_"Race where? We're on pier 5!" he said. Fishermen stared at us._

_"Yes, we are on pier 5," I said calmly._

_"You're too delicate to race down pier 5," he said firmly._

_"I'd say that you sound like my dad, but my dad doesn't care what I do," I said smugly, as if it were an honor. If I was older, it'd look like I was searching for sympathy, but I was 5!_

_"Well, I say you're too delicate, so you can't race," he declared._

_"I can!" I countered._

_"Well, then let's race," he said. We turned around and readied ourselves. When we next heard somebody say 'Hook-on,' we sprinted down the pier._

_Wind rushed through my ears. Blood flooded my legs, sending bursts of speed and energy. He was a few steps ahead of me though. I was going as fast as I could, but I couldn't physically beat him._

_Time to win either way._

_My feet fell out from under me. My arms flailed around. I soared nose-first towards the faded wood that made up the pier._

_Pain exploded, but it wasn't much of anything. My dad slapped me harder last week. It left a pretty cool yellow bruise though._

_"Are you okay?" he exclaimed._

_I slightly coiled the muscles in my legs and bent my knees._

_"Ah," I moaned. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was worried._

_I got up and sprinted. He obviously wasn't happy. He was still fast, but he was just a second behind me. A burst of energy that I didn't think existed rushed through me._

_My feet burst over the finish line. I turned around and gave a triumphant smile. His frown deepened to the point where his face wrinkled like my only living grandpa Joey._

_"Yeah! I don't have to tell you my name now!" I said._

_"I will learn your name," he said, still wrinkled._

_"No, I won so you won't," I said calmly._

_He stood up at his full height, casting a shadow over me. I lifted my chin up, looking strong. The fishermen were laughing now. I crossed my arms and stared at him. He did the same._

_"Annie, what are you doing!" screamed my mom. Hearing my name, I turned around. I could just feel him grinning proudly. "He's an O'dair! You're a Cresta!"_

_"But you hate me," I said simply._

_"When did I say that?" she exclaimed, obviously embarrassed._

_"Last night you were talking to daddy. You said, quote on quote: I hate Annie. She doesn't understand that she's a Cresta," I said. Fishermen stared, their amusement obviously gone._

_"A Cresta can't be friends with an O'dair," she said bluntly._

_"Why? What'd they do?" I said._

_"Finnick's daddy's brother killed my sister," she said, like she was explaining that we need to catch fish to live._

_"Was it in the Hunger Games?" I asked curiously. I never knew my aunt, even though I'd heard about her._

_"Yes, where else could he kill somebody and not be executed?" she asked, clearly livid. I had a feeling that it was at me._

_I opened her door to our small home. It had a window facing the then-blue sea. I went to the other side of the room and sat on our hammock. We couldn't afford a couch, but we used spare nets and hung them from the ceiling. Ella's twin Eden, then just a baby, was on the other side, wrapped in fabric. The motion of the rocking net sent her down. The meshwork wrapped around her neck. A cry fought to come from her throat. I climbed to her, but the motion tightened the rope. Sweat broke out on my forehead._

_Life left her with her last exhale._

_I screamed. Mama came in and screamed. Ella cried. Ava shrieked like a banshee. Dean looked around wildly. Kevin perked his head up at the commotion._

_"She isn't coming back. You're just as bad as the O'dairs," my mom said, her voice full of venom, "You're not a Cresta."_

Eden came to me in my dreams that night. At first, I thought it was Ella. After all, she was 12 years old and looked like Ella. However, in her dark blonde hair there were no streaks. Ella's hair had light streaks from the sun that Eden never got in her two weeks of life.

She just stood there and stared, her head over to the side. Her eyes were glazed over and sorrowful. My skin shrunk around my muscles. I tried to wince, but my skin was too tight, as if I just had some Capitol operation that's called Botox. I looked down. I was in a straightjacket that was getting smaller by the second.

And… it was so… hot. The itchy canvas was getting drenched. Pinpricks pierced my skin. I tried to scream, but it caught in my throat.

Eden was holding Finnick's trident and walking towards me. Why did that appear in every dream? I didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse.

The middle spoke of Finnick's trident brushed against my jugular. I thought of Trey. I thought of Misa. I thought of Gregory. I was going to meet their fate the same way.

I woke up to screams. It was a few minutes before I realized they were mine. The soft sheets were wrapped around me. There was no Finnick to save me from my living nightmare. I was on my own.

"Get used to it," I whispered to myself. I couldn't have Finnick's next to me in the arena.

There was a TV in the room. I got the remote and flipped it on. A news station was on. Obviously, it was talking about the impending Games. A picture of Finnick flashed on the screen. Next to him was a picture of one of my fellow tributes, Janine.

On top of the screen, in bright red letters, were two words I never would have guessed.

**VICTOR'S AFFAIR**

My jaw dropped open. This was the last thing I expected. I glued my eyes to the screen and watched some reporter named Ecstasy Angel. She had orange eyes and hair just like Riddle. It seemed to be some type of fad.

"Reports have confirmed that Finnick O'dair is having an affair with the female tribute with District 3, Janine Aphrodisiac. Multiple sources have seen the two lovebirds getting intimate," Ecstasy Angel said with that annoying accent. My breath caught in my throat. My eyes swam with tears. It couldn't be. I felt hollow, almost like I was defying gravity. The only thing that had kept me weighted to Earth was Finnick, but now he was gone to either Janine or the Capitol.

My heart felt like it was made of lead. Breathing became harder. It was like every ounce of oxygen had left my lungs. I gasped for air. The Capitol had taken everything from me and I couldn't beat them. Only a miracle could beat them.

The TV clicked off. I heard the slight rustling of bare feet on the plush carpet. I turned my eyes to see her, the girl I hated the most right now. I hated her more than Aqua, my mom and Ava combined.

Janine, in a dark red long-sleeved shirt and purple shorts, sat down next to me. Her legs were crossed with her hands pressed on her ankles, biting her lip.

I turned and glared at her, or attempted to anyways. I'm pretty sure I just looked like a sad, sick puppy. Her eyes were the color of smoke and roses.

"It's not true," she said, tossing her head towards the blank screen. She was probably eighteen. I just glared at her, trying not to rip her limb from limb before that gong rang.

"Why'd you come to me?" I hissed menacingly, my voice filled with venom. She flinched, but held her ground.

"I was made 5 years ago," she said calmly. I raised my eyebrows. Made? That didn't sound right. She didn't seem to notice. "That was when Finnick realized he loved you after he got out of the arena. President Snow, he took three kids from District 1, 2, and 3. Those kids were named Yves Saint, Mysis Soul, and Janine Aphrodisiac. He said he was going to give them everything they ever wanted," she explained weakly. He voice was trembling and seemed strangled, as if fighting an unknown force.

"He sent the girls to these doctors. He told the girls they had to be checked to see if they could take it. According to the results, all three of them needed a little tweaking to their organs," Janine said. Was she Janine at all?

"The surgeons made them cyborgs from the inside. Each of them had a different purpose. Yves was made to kill you brutally. Mysis was made to make it look like you weren't their only target. I was made to just make you angry and give Finnick the spotlight," she continued. I was shaking with fury, now directed towards President Snow. He was a sick, sick, sick creature.

"Why?" I asked. I could already think of a million reasons.

"He wanted Finnick to kill himself when he lost you. Websites would crash with Finnick. Towns would crash with Finnick," she said. I trembled perilously, on the verge of a seizure.

"Yves malfunctioned. Mysis shut down and is now a sort of robot, soulless. I rebelled against him. He's failing right now," she said in a weak attempt to comfort me. "He also worked on one other person. I don't know what he did to them, but they were programmed to do something to you in your sleep," she said. I raised my eyebrows, wanting an answer she didn't give me. All she said was,

"Keep your allies at arm's length."

This sent a million thoughts whirring through my head. I was skeptical of everybody. Kevin? Rhi? Javi? Who had succumbed to the sleaze of the Snow?

Keep your allies at arm's length. It was just 6 words, but they sent a gazillion thoughts reeling through my head. Why does everybody want to kill me? Why does the most powerful person in Panem want to kill the best thing that ever happened to me? How is it fair that to make up for a handful of Capitol deaths in the rebellion, they don't kill 1633 kids, but make them kill each other in an arena for the sole purpose of getting out alive?

The reason everybody in Panem thinks their life is a monstrosity is because Panem is a monstrosity.

Panem is messed up. Just because a Capitol mind is too twisted to feel love doesn't mean that they have to take it away from of those who need it to live. I started to hyperventilate. They couldn't be doing this to me. They couldn't be doing this to us. Us as in Panem. Us as in District 4. Us as in the Crestas. Us as in the O'dairs. Us as in Janine and Mysis and Yves and the other poor kid that Snow manipulated.

Us as in Finnick and I.

"It's okay," Janine said, trying to calm me down but obviously confused. What was she supposed to say to a 17-year-old girl whose true love was in the face of danger just because they fell in love and was in danger of overshadowing the president? I'm not even sure I could comfort somebody in that situation, maybe not even Kevin, who is the master of these kinds of things.

Janine left the room. It sounds rude, but I was kind of glad she left. I curled up in the soaked sheets, feeling shaky and light-headed. My skin was clammy. My muscles coiled up. I thought I was clear out of fluids, but sweat kept flooding out of every pore in my face. I'm not sure which ones were tears though.

"President Snow wants to talk to you." I turned around to see an uncharacteristically professional Ransialla. She pulled me out of bed and dragged me down the hall. I stumbled after her. She took me to a room well below the training room. It was very dark here, full of cubicles and wires and only two or three small light bulbs to keep everybody out of pitch blackness, other than the light of computer screens reflecting off glazed over eyes. Avoxes scuttled around the area. An undernourished orange-haired girl that couldn't be any more than my age came up with a pair of handcuffs.

She cuffed me and pulled at my elbow. Ransialla was long gone. She led me to a huge set of double doors at the end of the hall. She scanned her finger on a panel by the side of the door and the wooden doors opened to a huge room.

"Ah, just the girl I wanted to see," somebody in the dark said. I flinched at the icy venom of those few words. The Avox scurried away, her head ducked. I was left alone in a dark doorway. I took a few steps in and ran into a wall. Every fiber in my body was telling me to turn away. Even in sweatpants and a jacket, I was shivering as the cold reflected off the bare stone.

"Annie, oh Annie, it's okay. Don't fear me," the voice said again. I flinched, my blood freezing in my veins. I didn't move. The stillness was eerie and I had a feeling somebody was watching me. Of course, somebody was always watching me.

Lights flipped on. I was in a huge room and had run into the pillar in the center. There were three chairs and a coffee table, but there was no other furniture in the room. My eyes widened to the size of saucers as I saw an elated President Snow, sitting nonchalantly next to a handcuffed Finnick.

**Okay, so Read and Review. I hope you like it, even though it is slightly complicated (I write complex things that may not be understandable).**


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